Chakotay
Chakotay was a Starfleet officer and former member of the Maquis. He wore a tattoo on his forehead to signify his Native American heritage. Chakotay resigned from Starfleet soon after the foundation of the Maquis as he felt his homeworld was in danger from the Cardassians. Other Family Chakotay's father, Kolopak, disapproved of his son joining Starfleet. In 2344 Kolopak was insistent upon finding his ancestors home in Central America. There Chakotay, who was fifteen years old and his sights already set on Starfleet, shocked his father by telling him he would be leaving him to enter Starfleet Academy. Kolopak was killed while defending his colony aginst Cardassians (VOY: " Tattoo"). When the news reached Chakotay, he resigned from Starfleet to join the Maquis. It was then that he got his tattoo in order to honor the memory of his father. The news about the defeat of the Maquis reached Chakotay through a letter from his cousin on Earth to Voyager via the Hirogen communications network. When Chakotay was young he looked after his grandfather, who suffered from hallucinations caused by an inherited defective gene. This gene was suppressed in Chakotay before birth, although it was activated for a brief period in 2375 by aliens who attempted to make contact with the crew of Voyager. (VOY: "The Fight") Later in life Chakotay would place great faith in his spiritual background. He used vision quests to help guide his life, prayed to his father and used a Mayan medicine wheel for healing himself. The Pakra is the name of the solitary ritual by which Chakotay commemorates the anniversary of Kolopak's death. On Stardate 49005.3 Captain Kathryn Janeway granted him the use of a shuttlecraft so he could perform the ritual in private. (VOY: "Initiations") Starfleet Career Starfleet Academy Chakotay's entry in to Starfleet Academy, at the age of fifteen, was sponsored by Captain Sulu. :It is generally accepted that Chakotay was referring to Captain Hikaru Sulu or one of his descendants. Chakotay possessed great piloting skills. He trained as a pilot in North America his first year at the Academy. Then he went to Venus for a couple of months to learn how to handle atmospheric storms, and later dodged asteroids for a semester in the belt located between Mars and Jupiter. (VOY: "Future's End, Part II") He was also trained as an anthropologist. (VOY: "Blink of an Eye") Chakotay also became a proficient boxer at the light heavyweight level, with a record of 23 wins and one loss. The loss was to a Nausicaan with "a mean right hook." According to B'Elanna Torres, "Legend has it that "The Tattooed Terror" has put more men in sickbay than the Ankaran flu." (VOY: "Tsunkatse") End of Career After his father was killed in 2371, resisting the Cardassian takeover of his planet as per the terms of the border treaty between Cardassia and the Federation, Chakotay joined the Maquis. He could not stand by and watch his people being displaced as had happened on Earth. He became one of the leaders of the Maquis and his cell became one of the most successful in resisting the Cardassians and Federation. In order to stop him, an undercover agent by the name of Tuvok was sent to join his group and was still aboard his ship when it disappeared in the Badlands. Voyager Following the destruction of the Val Jean in the Delta Quadrant, Chakotay and his crew joined Voyager's crew. Chakotay was granted the provisional rank of lieutenant commander and became Voyager's First Officer. He had his share of pains after joining Voyager. He found out that Tuvok was a Federation spy and Seska, his lover, was revealed to be a Cardassian spy. Chakotay possessed great moral courage and served Janeway well as first officer, his loyalty never wavered. He helped keep the peace and establish cooperation between his Maquis and the Starfleet crew. Near the end of Voyager's time in the Delta Quadrant, he became romantically involved with Seven of Nine. Alternate timelines In an alternate timeline, Chakotay married Seven of Nine who later died on an away mission. He himself died in 2394, only a few weeks before the ten-year anniversary of Voyager''s return. (VOY: "Endgame") In another timeline, Chakotay and Harry Kim flew the Delta Flyer to Earth after ''Voyager was destroyed due to a mistake of Harry's. Fifteen years later, as fugitives, they found Voyager and "fixed" history. (VOY: "Endgame") Background Chakotay was played by Robert Beltran during the course of the Voyager series. In VOY: "Tattoo," a younger Chakotay was played by Douglas Spain. Although Chakotay was invariably referred to as "commander" during the run of this series, he wore the provisional rank insignia of a lieutenant commander. This is not contradictory, as it is accepted terminology to shorten the rank; however it is odd that no one ever mentioned his real rank, in full. In TNG: "Preemptive Strike", the lieutenant commander whom Ro Laren refers to as her instructor at Starfleet Tactical Training in 2369/2370 who joined the Maquis was intended by the producers as a reference to Chakotay. In fact, this fact is included in Ro Laren's biography at Startrek.com. That intention was contradicted in VOY: "In the Flesh" where Chakotay stated that he resigned his commission on March 3, 2368. Addendum: According to startrek.com's biography on Chakotay, he resigned his commission in 2370, but it also lists his father dying in 2370 (which sparks his resignation), and later in the same article that his father dies in 2371. It would seem that there is some confusion as to this. Apocrypha In the Voyager relaunch book series, Chakotay becomes the captain of [[USS Voyager|USS ''Voyager]]. In the novel Pathways, it is stated that the Starfleet captain who sponsored Chakotay in applying to Starfleet Academy was Hiromi Sulu, the grandson of Hikaru Sulu and son of Demora Sulu. de:Chakotay nl:Chakotay Chakotay Chakotay Chakotay Chakotay